Bedtime
by SportyLovatic
Summary: A fluffy, Tate one-shot where Kate has to work late and Tony is left to the task of bathing their one year old daughter, Bailey. Can he do it without incidence?


**I was inspired to write this after seeing a photo (see cover art) on Instagram.**

**Here we go! Enjoy! :-)**

"Come on, Bales! Give Daddy a break!" Tony used his arm to shield himself from the flying bath water, flinching as yet another shower of water hit him. He looked down into the bubble filled tub where his one year old daughter, Bailey, was having a good old time, slamming her tiny, chubby fists into the tub, spending water flying every which way, most of it landing on Tony or the floor.

Bailey simply let out an ecstatic squeal as she continued her play.

Tony cellphone began to ring in his back pocket. Stepping away from the tub he pulled out his phone to answer. "DiNozzo?"

"Hey, I'm on my way home. Did you feed Bailey?" said Kate over the phone.

"Yeah, I made some spaghetti and gave her some applesauce, though most of it ended up on her clothes instead of in her mouth. We really have to work on her feeding herself."

"I should be home in a fifteen minutes. I'll give her a bath when I get there."

"No need, I already got her in the tub."

"Oh no! Tony, I don't know if that's a good idea."

"I got it, Kate!"

"You said that the last time you gave her bath and look at what a disaster that was!"

"It wasn't that bad."

"She splashed water everywhere, the bathroom was a mess!"

"I cleaned it up."

"Instead of using her lavender bubble bath you used dish detergent for bubbles."

"It smelled like lavender plus she could cut though tough grease afterwards," smirked Tony.

"And let's not forget you made her cry!"

"How was I supposed to know that your shampoo wasn't safe for her to use? It says for all hair types!"

"Yes, every baby uses Herbal Essences, Tony. It's how their parents keep their hair so soft and shiny. It took me an hour to get her to stop crying and her eyes were still red the next morning!"

"I could do without the sarcasm, Kate. Look we are fine, isn't that right, Bailey?" Tony looked into the tub to see his daughter's big hazel eyes, looking up at him, her rubber ducky toy jammed in her mouth, loud squeaks coming from the toy as she bit down on it. "See, Bailey agrees with me."

"Tony, I…"

"I got this, Kate. You just get here as soon as you can. Love you."

"Tony."

"Tell Mama you love her, Bales!" Tony held the phone out just as Bailey slammed her fists into the water creating a massive splash sound.

"Tony!" The line went dead.

Tony kneeled down next to the tub. "You hear your Mama, Bailey? She doesn't think I can handle giving you a bath! Coo-coo!" Tony twirled his finger at the slide of his head.

The rubber ducky in Bailey's mouth squeaked causing her to giggle.

Tony smiled. "You are one silly baby, Bailey DiNozzo! What do you say we start with your hair?" He reached over grabbing the baby shampoo, squirting some into his palm. Tony began to massage Bailey's medium brown hair with the shampoo as she looked up at him, nibbling at her ducky. "Hello beautiful!" He smiled at the little girl.

Bailey removed the rubber duck from her mouth with a smile. "Dada!"

"Yeah, Dada! Dada's got you! Dada knows what he's doing."

"Dada!" Bailey wiggled her toes in the water.

"Let's rinse this out your hair." Tony held the rag over Bailey's head, squeezing out a stream of water.

Bailey gasped and squirmed as water ran down her face and over her eyes.

"Oh no, I got it in your eyes again, crap! I'm sorry, Bailey, sweetie, don't cry! Please, don't cry! Kate will kill me if you cry!"

Bailey giggled running her hands over her eyes.

"You okay?"

Bailey looked up at Tony with a big smile, pointing at the rag in his hand.

"You like that, huh?" Tony filled the rag again, squeezing the water onto Bailey's head as she laughed more.

Tony squeezed water onto her head a few more times before washing her up. "Why don't you play for a few more minutes while I clean up this little mess you made."

Bailey quietly babbled to herself in the tub while Tony used a floor towel to soak up all the water on the floor.

Tony tossed the towel into the clothes hamper. "Okay Bales, time to get out!" Tony drained the tub. Tony picked up the fluffy grey towel, bending down to pick up his daughter out the tub. He wrapped the towel tightly around her tiny body, running it over her hair a few times making her laugh.

"What do you say we actually get you into pajamas and into bed tonight?"

Bailey cooed.

Tony stepped out the bathroom with his daughter on his shoulder.

He turned around to evaluate the damage in the bathroom. "Not too bad! We did pretty good tonight, Bales, what do you think?"

Bailey rubbed her wet face against her father's shoulder, her damp her hitting him in the cheek. Bailey nestled her head into his shoulder.

Tony smiled. "Why is it that you love to snuggle up to me right out of the tub? You realize you are soaking wet right?"

Bailey giggled.

"Is that why you like the fluffy towels? So you can get all cozy with Dada?"

Bailey laughed. "Mama!"

"No, no Mama isn't home yet. Dada is putting you to bed together. We are going to show your Mama that Dada knows what he doing," Tony kissed Bailey on the cheek, bouncing her in his arms as he walked into his bedroom. Tony looked over his shoulder at his daughter who looked up at him with eyes just like Kate's. "Let's get you in your pajamas," Tony laid his daughter down on their bed, wiping the rest of the water off her body. "Okay, could you please not take off running tonight? Just lay there and let me get you lotioned up and into your P.J.'s, alright?"

Bailey complied, sticking her chubby foot into her mouth.

"You are one funny baby, Bailey."

Tony put lotion on her and got a diaper on her as well as a t-shirt on her before standing her on up on the bed. He picked up two sets of pajamas. "You want pink or purple?"

Bailey let out a high-pitched squeal as she clapped her hands, bouncing on the bed.

"I like purple too!" Tony slipped the shirt over her head, playing peek-a-boo as he pulled her head through the hole, making her laugh. He laid her back down to put on her pajama pants struggling as she kicked her legs about. "When you get bigger we are definitely signing you up for soccer!" Tony blew kisses on her stomach causing her to erupt in laughter. Tony placed Bailey on his hip as she yawned. "Uh no! Someone is getting sleepy! Can't go to sleep just yet, we have to dry your hair." Tony made faces at the baby on his side as he took Kate's blower dryer off dresser. "Freeze!" he pouted the blow dryer at Bailey, making both of them laugh. Setting the blow dryer on low, he sat the chubby baby on top of the dresser as he waved the blow dryer around his daughter's head.

Bailey smiled as she tried to cover her eyes from the blasts of air.

"Here, you want to do Dada's hair?" Tony stood Bailey up, wrapping his arm about her. He took her hand into his, pretending to let her dry his hair.

Bailey flashed her gummy, two toothed smile as she did her father's hair.

Tony shut off the blow dryer. "There, all dry! How do I look?"

Bailey reached her hands into Tony's hair, firmly grasping his locks.

"No, no, Bailey! Don't pull on Dada's hair!" He loosened the little girl's grip. "I found six hairs in the drain this morning, don't want to lose anymore!" Tony raised his eyebrow at his daughter. "You want Dada to have hair don't you?"

A shower of spit hit Tony in the face as Bailey's tongue hung out her mouth.

Tony wiped his face with his shirt. "Cute."

Bailey yawned as he laid her head on Tony's shoulder. Her one hand finding its way to her mouth while tiny fingers played with Tony's beard, a sure sign she was ready for bed.

"I know, your mama has been telling me to shave for days but I like it. It's different. Have to change it up every now and then. I was thinking of maybe cutting it into a goatee or maybe a mustache! Which would you prefer?"

Bailey continued to suck on her hand and play with Tony's facial hair.

Tony kissed her chubby cheek. "Come on, let's go get you a nice warm bottle and get you into bed."

Tony walked into the living room with Bailey in his arms to see Kate looking at her phone, sitting on the couch. "Hey, look who it is! It's Mama!"

Bailey reached out her arms for Kate. "Mama! Mama!"

"Hi, my baby girl," Kate took the baby from Tony kissing her soft hair before looking her over.

"What are you doing?" asked Tony.

"Checking her for tears or any sign of dish detergent!"

"Seriously, Kate? She is fine! Bathed, hair washed without tears, she's in her pajamas and the bathroom is clean. I was just about to give her a bottle and put her in bed. I know you are just being protective Mama Kate as always but you have to lighten up with me, hon. I'm her father not some pimpled faced teenager. I know how to take care of our daughter."

"It's hard to tell the difference at times,"

"Funny. Look, if me bathing her and getting her to bed stresses you that much, I won't do it anymore. I was just trying to help you out I thought you might be tired when you got home and want to relax."

Kate looked down at her daughter, her head tucked in the nape of Kate's neck as she suck on her hand while playing with Kate's dark brown hair. "Maybe I overacted just a little bit. It's clear you know what you are doing when it comes to our daughter and she seems to really enjoy her time with you."

"What makes you think that?"

Kate held up her phone showing Tony a picture of Bailey, smiling for the camera, her bright eyes showing nothing but contentment in her father's arms right after her bath.

Tony smiled as he looked at the picture. "When did you take this?"

"I got home about the time you were cleaning up the bathroom floor. When you came out the bathroom, you two looked so cute together I couldn't resist."

"You like bath time with Dada, huh Bales?"

The sound of tiny snores escaped Bailey's open mouth.

"I'll take that as a yes!" laughed Tony as he leaned over gently kissing Bailey's cheek. "Night night, baby girl. I love you." Tony kissed Kate. "And I love you too even though you don't trust me with our daughter!"

Kate returned Tony's kiss, taking him by the hand. "Come on, it's bedtime."

**What do you think? Reviews and comments are welcomed**


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